SHATTERED GLASS

Hayden Christensen, Peter Sarsgaard, Hank aquaria, Steve Zahn

"Read between the lies."

Lifestyle channel

A film based on a true story. It (the film) hardly made any ripples, I probably missed its run in the theaters but I've heard about its controversial subject matter - Stephen Glass. He was a young reporter for the New Republic Magazine who was eventually exposed as a phony fabricator who made up stories/articles for the paper. He was hailed as a brilliant writer and his pieces for the magazine had a loyal following among its readership. Yet his articles were exposed as lies when a writer for the online version of Forbes magazine stumbled upon his article about a young hacker who it turns out never existed. Everyone in the movie is based after real people and real events which happened in the mid 90s in Washington D.C.

Being the daughter of a former editor and a sibling of a writer/journalist, I more or less know about the inner trappings in running a magazine. As well as the moral ethics involved in bringing fair and good journalism to readers who get their news from these publications. So I cringed and squirmed in my seat when Glass was slowly being exposed as the liar and cheat that he was. His moral fiber as a journalist blown into bits and pieces, his credibility totally out on the line. As my sister told me during the movie, it was painful to watch!
So I give kudos to Hayden Christensen for giving us a realistic portrayal of Glass. His acting was a lot better here than in the Star Wars movies. He came across as being an amiable character at first, always ingratiating himself with his editors and colleagues. The defining moment comes when he starts to unravel after all his fabricated lies were discovered.
The ensemble cast of supporting characters like Hank Azaria and Peter Sarsgaard did well too.
Overall, a good film about journalism, the real truth and the downfall of a supposedly brilliant writer/journalist.